Hi guys — When I went to the Mom 2.0 conference in Laguna this month I had the good fortune to meet Kyra Phillips and some of her producers at Raising America and now have the opportunity to be on a panel about date rape which will air tomorrow on HLN at 9 a.m. Pacific time and 12 p.m. Eastern time.

I’ve begun carefully discussing what rape and consent mean to my own daughters, who are 9 and 11. I know this is controversial as many people think they’re too young to digest these kinds of conversations. But I think childhood innocence is overrated. I try to inform, not frighten. I may err on the side of too much information because of the violent, attempted date rape I endured. But I want to prepare my daughters for the time when they’re no longer under my supervision and I want to foster an openness and trust between us so they can come to me with any questions they may have, or turn to me for help should they need it. I don’t know if I’ll be successful, but it won’t be for lack of effort.

6 comments

Shannon, how ironic that while surfing both the internet and cable, I’m on HLN while reading your post. Bravo! You will be fabulous.
I have my own date rape story, involving an ‘retired’ NFL star, formerly a huge football hero at my high school, several years my senior. If you’re compiling stories, I may privately send it to you.
I’ll be watching tomorrow! You’ll be wonderful!
xoxo
Joanne

Shannon,
Caught you the last two minutes (?) of the show. You looked and sounded so poised and articulate, then were praised by the hostess, Ms. Phillips. They should have let you be on longer. I have a hunch they’ll invite you back!
Congrats!
Joanne

Hi Joanne — thanks for the comment. I was pretty nervous in the beginning of the interview. It’s strange to talk directly into a black camera monitor. Somewhat off-putting, but I hope my message got across.

Thank you. Thank you for sharing your voice in this fight. In the group of girls that I hung out with Freshman year of college, every single one of them was either a victim of rape or attempted rape, by a fellow student, by the time they graduated. Too often it’s an attitude of “boys will be boys” and drinking justifying behavior, and people don’t treat it with the severity and seriousness that it deserves.

Hi Megly — off the top of my head I know five women who were date raped and three of them lost their virginity that way. When I mentioned my interview to an older relative her first reaction was that women had to be more careful because they should understand that “boys will be boys.” I think we’ve come a long way from the generations before us, but there is still further to go.